This invention relates generally fire fighting equipment, and more particularly to portable fire extinguishers that employ and apply liquid fire retardants to fires to extinguish the same.
Portable fire fighting systems are well known in the art. Such systems and tools vary widely in complexity, ease of operation and cost of manufacturing. For example, one early design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,911 issued to Gow in 1977 showing a portable fire extinguisher that operates on centrifugal force. Although this design is portable, it is complex and is not designed to be held by the user while it is in use.
In 1981 U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,833 issued to Perry disclosing a portable fire extinguisher composed of a portable air tank with a pressure regulator and a liquid carrying tank containing the fire extinguishing liquid. Although this arrangement is readily portable, it lacks the capability of a high volume of gas to distribute the extinguishing liquid.
In 1982, U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,096 issued directed to an aqueous film-forming foam fire extinguisher arranged similar to a traditional fire extinguisher that comprises a fixed amount of pressurized medium to propel on to a fire. Similarly, in 1986 and 1989 U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,620,598 and 4,862,968 issued showing a disposable fire extinguisher that employs a fire extinguishing medium which is discharged under pressure.
In 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,067 issued illustrating a portable fire fighting tool that is connectable to a portable fire extinguisher that like those noted above that operate under pressure to apply a fire extinguishing medium.
Other more recently disclosed portable fire extinguishers include U.S. Pat. No. 6,527,058 issued in 2003, U.S. Publications U.S. 2001/0004938 A1 and U.S. 2002/0040789 A1, each operate by discharging a fire extinguishing medium which is under pressure.
While most of the above noted designs can be employed to effectively extinguish a fire, they are, for the most part, complex in their construction, costly to manufacture, and bulky thereby inhibiting portability. In addition, because of the diversity of specialized components found in the above noted fire fighting devices, it would be difficult to stock replacement parts for repair.
Accordingly, a need remains for a safe, effective, inexpensive fire extinguisher system and tool that is constructed to include common, readily available components that can be quickly replaced or repaired.